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Ashley White

Dr. Meaghan Rand

UWRT 1102 - 010

15 February 2015

A Trip to the DMVRemember the time when you were on your way to the DMV to take

your driver’s test? The test that determined if you were ready to get your li-

cense and become a new driver? You woke up that morning with all those

anxious nerves, because today was the day that you didn’t need to ask your

parents or older sibling to take you to your best friend’s house anymore. I

bet you were nervous when you got in that car and your instructor bom-

barded you with questions like “What do you do first?” or “Where is this?”

However, you knew after this test all of it would be over and you would never

have to set foot in that car again. All the stress in your life disappears and

you would become invincible to the teenage world. Though what if you failed

that test? Would you like to know how that feels? Let me take you back three

years ago…

It was close to the end of ninth grade. I would be the first person out of

my friends to get their license and become the alpha of the group who held

all the power. Without me they couldn’t go to the mall and buy that really

cute top they saw last week or go out for the night. After school that day, I

would eagerly drive to my best friend Cassidy’s house and show her how I fi-

nally passed my test. However, that day went by slow and every minute

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seemed to get longer. I complained to my friends about how boring today

was and that it needed to end already. By lunch I thought I wasn’t going to

make it through the day. My lifeline fell short and at any second a scream

might escape from my throat. Though finally I went into my last class and

waited patiently for the bell to ring.

The bell finally rang to signal that school was over. I ran to the entrance

doors and greeted my mother with a “HURRY! We need to make it before

they stop accepting people!” We drove straight to the DMV where I signed

my name in and sat down impatiently for my driver’s test to begin. My mom

knew I was nervous because I couldn’t stop shaking my foot. “Calm down

Ashley,” she would tell me every five minutes. Though I couldn’t calm down,

my mind was full of thoughts and feelings. After waiting twenty minutes,

which felt like forever, my name was called “Ashley White?” I sprang up like

a coil and walked over to the front desk. We discussed why I was here and

she asked me to take the pre-test before the actual driver’s test. I placed my

forehead on this little machine to test both my eye sight and knowledge of

the basic street signs. Once all the questions were answered, she told me to

go back to my chair and wait for the instructor.

Around the corner came this tall, lanky women in her sixties who had

tired eyes and grey hair. No smile seemed to appear from her lips and the

world felt cold. In the back of my head I repeatedly said “Maybe she’s nice…”

but boy was I wrong. I got up once she approached me and greeted each

other with our names; however, due to my nerves and scattered brain I

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couldn't remember her name. Though we walked outside to my mom’s car

that I would take my driver’s test in. We first checked the car’s signal lights,

break lights, and horn. She got into the passenger’s side and right then I

knew the driver’s test had started. I began to sweat as she directed me

where to go. “Drive straight to the stop light. Turn right and then right again

at the next light. Stop at the stop sign. DON’T FORGET YOUR SIGNAL!” My

heart fluttered like no other and I thought it would explode. We turned on to

a dead end and here came the hard part: perform a three-point turn. I exe-

cuted it perfectly and drove to the stop sign at the entrance of the dead end.

Finally the test was over, I was confident that I passed my driver’s test.

All I needed to do were return to the DMV and take a picture for my license.

She turned to me with her tired eyes and frowned. “Ashley, you did a won-

derful job on your test,” a smile broke out on my face, “though you failed.”

Everything became distant and I didn’t know what to think. She began to ex-

plain why I didn’t pass, but I wasn’t fully interested. All I heard was, “You

rolled the last stop sign,” and “That’s illegal in North Carolina.” Tears formed

in my eyes, but I had to hold them back until she left. A few minutes later my

mom walked up next to the door and we switched seats. I couldn’t help but

cry as we left the DMV, because now I had to wait another week before I

could take the test again. My mom looked at me and tried to comfort me,

“Everything will be okay. A lot of people fail their driver’s test the first time.

Just understand that next time you’ll know what to do.” While I felt better

from what she said, so many things wouldn’t happen that day from my fail-

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ure. I wouldn’t go to Cassidy’s house with good news about my trip to the

DMV. Even school the next day wouldn’t be full of excitement because I had

no license to show my friends.

We arrived at our house and I wasn’t prepared to tell my dad and sister

that I failed. I knew my sister wanted to get Starbucks right when I got home

to test out my new license. Though as I walked into the house I announced it,

“I didn’t pass my driver’s test.” My dad and sister looked sad as I told them,

but not because they wanted me to have my license; instead they knew how

badly I wanted it. Failure isn’t something that I take lightly or like to do and

my family knew that. Though to lighten the mood my sister offered to drive

us to Starbucks so we could still go that day and bond together. It wasn’t ex-

actly how I imagined my day to end, but I knew in a week I would try harder

on my second attempt and maybe, finally have my license.

That week went by slower than a turtle, but my day finally arrived. My

mother drove us to the DMV again and we waited for my name to be called.

However, I didn’t get the same scary women from my previous driver’s test,

instead a cheerful, pump lady came around the corner and greeted me with

a bright smile. My anxiety calmed down instantly and I knew today was the

day. As I took the driver’s test, I didn’t let my confidence get to me. I took a

deep breath and went through the test in head to know what I should expect.

Turn left. Stop at this light. Directional sign. Turn right at this stop sign.

Breath Ashley. We parked in the DMV’s parking lot and she turned to me,

“Ashley, you did a wonderful job on your driver’s test,” a huge smile cracked

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from my mouth as she spoke, “If you come with me, we can go take a pic-

ture for your license.” I couldn’t believe that I finally had my license. As we

walked in, my mom gave me two thumbs up and I sat down in front of the

camera. I drove home that day with my temporary license and pride of finally

passing my driver’s test.

Let’s take a step back and analyze the conflict that is presented in this

paper. Many factors come together and effect not only my mindset but also

the peoples’ around me. Being a teenager I had, and sometimes still have

the mentality that I am always right, so when I failed my test it was a huge

shock to me. I thought I did the test perfectly and already knew I was getting

my license. However, my confidence got to the best of me and I slipped up

on something quite simple. Also I’m the type of person who doesn’t like fail-

ure. Throughout high school I would get upset if I got B’s on tests or didn’t do

as good as expected. I know I put high expectations on myself but it was so I

can get into college. Failing my driver’s test wasn’t going to prevent me from

getting into college, but I was scared that I would begin to fail more than just

that. Also I grew up with parents that wanted what was best for me, so I

knew that I needed to do my best. Not only that, but I didn’t want to disap-

point them with my failure. I surrounded myself with people who achieved

the things they aimed for in life. By doing this it would motivate me to not

look like the runt of the pack. Which brings me to power and how it has a

huge part in this conflict. I wanted to be the first of my friends to become in-

dependent. It would rank me higher than them and they would look up to me

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metaphorically. Having this would satisfy my confidence and make me feel

like I’m achieving the things I want in life without failure.

On the other hand, my mother reacted with compassion and comfort be-

cause that’s what mothers do. They comfort their of offsprings when they are

in distress. She was supposed to tell me what I wanted to hear. To help me

feel better and that i’m not exactly a failure like I was thinking. Also it wasn’t

the instructors fault that she had to fail me. I broke a law in North Carolina,

so it couldn’t be taken lightly or be rewarded for. If she patted me on the

back while saying “it’s okay everyone makes mistakes” and I got my license

that day, I wouldn’t have learned my lesson. Instead, I would keep on rolling

stop signs. Also it’s her job to be a critic and determine who is ready to be on

the road. If she passed everyone then the accident rate would go up and

would most likely loose her job. Which she needs to support herself and fam-

ily.

While I still don’t like the idea of failing anything important or not doing

my best, I know I wouldn’t react the same way as I did when I was fifteen

years old. In the moment of the conflict, I thought she was doing it on pur-

pose and wanted to fail me. However, I now understand that she was just do-

ing her job and needed to let me practice more before I could obtain my li-

cense. Also instead of crying about failing my driver’s test I would take it as a

lesson learned and try harder next time. So I think my mentality has matured

and I can see this conflict in a learning way. When I say learning, i’m refer-

ring to taking this conflict and growing from it. Knowing what I did wrong,

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how it can be fixed, and understanding how I can “correctly” react to another

conflict like this in the future. However, by being childish and not getting

what I want, it’s hard to see the true nature of something. I think that pre-

vented me from understanding why I failed. Also i’ve gained more experi-

ence in the work force, so I understand that she was just doing her job. At fif-

teen, I never had a job so I didn’t really understand why people acted a cer-

tain way at their job or that there are rules that needed to be followed.

Though I think after everyone’s first job they gain a sense of responsibility.

People can’t just smack my hand and tell me not to do it again in this con-

flict, instead they need to fail me so I can try again and learn that there are

laws to driving on the road.

Now that we’ve analyzed the conflict presented, a common argument is

shown throughout the paper and analysis. Over-confidence and perfection-

ism was controlling how I presented myself during the driver’s test. After

looking back on this event in my life i’ve realized how being over-confident

didn’t help me in this situation. Expecting to get my license wasn’t the mind-

set that I should’ve had, because then I put high expectations on myself and

when I did fail it upset me. Which my perfectionism comes into play because

I don’t like failure and want everything to go the way it should be planned.

So for everyone who deals with conflicts in the same way need to take a

deep breath and listen to what i’m about to say. Realize that even though

you think everything will be easy or that you know everything, that’s not al-

ways the case. Practice makes perfect and there is no reason to take time to

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do that. Being over-confident makes you oblivious to the situations you are

going into and you lack the actual knowledge needed. Also being a perfec-

tionist will force you to put high expectations on yourself and then when you

can’t fulfill them you don’t feel like you achieved anything. However, take on

the world day by day and understand that not everything will flow perfectly.

Also that not everyone is going to obey to your commands or what you be-

lieve is right way. Just take a deep breath and practice for whatever is com-

ing your way.

Process Notes

1. My method of writing is similar in this paper compared to all the

papers I have written. When I write I create a tone to where i’m directly

talking to the reader. I think it helps the reader connect with my paper in

more of a personal way. Plus I found this method easy for me because I

can let my thoughts flow and didn't have to correct them to make it

sound professional.

2. I think when I included the second trip to the DMV, it was a good

revision. Even though it was short, it still had a good role in my paper. It

helped form my argument on over-confidence and show the reader a

good example on how it can effect someone. You can see a difference

from my first trip compared to my second.

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3. The peer response helped me find the direction I needed to go

towards for my argument. At first, I had no idea what to write about and

didn’t think my conflict even had an argument. I thought the only thing

was growing up and maturing as you get older. However, now I realize

how over-confident I was in the conflict and that’s what was effecting me

the most. Also how power played a big part in wanting my license first

within my friend group. It tied in with my confidence and i’m glad with a

peer response it helped me discover it.

4. If more time was given, I would like to add to my argument.

While I think I did a good job on my paper, I really wanted to talk more

about my argument and give more details to how people need to practice

hard and not think they will pass something with just confidence. Maybe

even give another example that can help tie in the readers that didn’t

connect with my paper. It was just hard for me to write about my argu-

ment and I had a big writer’s block.

5. The most difficulty I had was wording my argument. Starting the

paragraphs troubled me at first and I didn’t know exactly what to say or

write about. I didn’t want to get off topic or not have a good timeline in

the paper. The reader would then get confused and not understand what

the paper’s main idea was. That’s the one thing I struggle with papers, I’ll

get off topic very quickly to add length.

6. I’m proud of the story that my paper is written about. I know I

lack in some aspects of writing but when I can be creative or personal

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with my writing I think I shine the most. Instead of worrying about what

needs to be included or what words I have to add, I can just be myself

and let my thoughts flow like a steady river.